Razer , the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, announced today the latest external graphics enclosure (eGPU), the Razer Core X Chroma. The Razer Core X Chroma expands its features to now include a 700W power supply, USB and Gigabit Ethernet ports, and Razer Chroma lighting.

Designed to work with a wide array of Thunderbolt 3 Windows laptops and MacBooks, the Razer Core eGPU line will give mobile warriors the ability to tap into the massive graphics processing power of a desktop gaming machine with minimal hassle. This allows users to play the most demanding games and create world-class content at blazing speeds. The Razer Core X Chroma now includes a 700W power supply, USB and Gigabit Ethernet ports, and Razer Chroma lighting to meet the needs of the most hardcore gamers and creators.

NVIDIA today announced that it is extending DXR (DirectX Raytracing) support to several GeForce GTX graphics models beyond its GeForce RTX series. These include the GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660, GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1070 Ti, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060 6 GB. The GTX 1060 3 GB and lower "Pascal" models don't support DXR, nor do older generations of NVIDIA GPUs. NVIDIA has implemented real-time raytracing on GPUs without specialized components such as RT cores or tensor cores, by essentially implementing the rendering path through shaders, in this case, CUDA cores. DXR support will be added through a new GeForce graphics driver later today.

The GPU's CUDA cores now have to calculate BVR, intersection, reflection, and refraction. The GTX 16-series chips have an edge over "Pascal" despite lacking RT cores, as the "Turing" CUDA cores support concurrent INT and FP execution, allowing more work to be done per clock. NVIDIA in a detailed presentation listed out the kinds of real-time ray-tracing effects available by the DXR API, namely reflections, shadows, advanced reflections and shadows, ambient occlusion, global illumination (unbaked), and combinations of these. The company put out detailed performance numbers for a selection of GTX 10-series and GTX 16-series GPUs, and compared them to RTX 20-series SKUs that have specialized hardware for DXR.

NVIDIA had their customary GTC keynote ending mere minutes ago, and it was one of the longer keynotes clocking in at nearly three hours in length. There were some fascinating demos and features shown off, especially in the realm of robotics and machine learning, as well as new hardware as it pertains to AI and cars with the all-new Jetson Nano. It would be fair to say, however, that the vast majority of the keynote was targeting developers and researchers, as usually is the case at GTC. However, something came up in between which caught us by surprise, and no doubt is a pleasant update to most of us here on TechPowerUp.

Following AMD's claims on software-based real-time ray tracing in games, and Crytek's Neon Noir real-time ray tracing demo for both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, it makes sense in hindsight that NVIDIA would allow rudimentary DXR ray tracing support to older hardware that do not support RT cores. In particular, an upcoming drivers update next month will allow DXR support for 10-series Pascal-microarchitecture graphics cards (GTX 1060 6 GB and higher), as well as the newly announced GTX 16-series Turing-microarchitecture GPUs (GTX 1660, GTX 1660 Ti). The announcement comes with a caveat letting people know to not expect RTX support (think lower number of ray traces, and possibly no secondary/tertiary effects), and this DXR mode will only be supported in Unity and Unreal game engines for now. More to come, with details past the break.

It looks like RTX technology won't make it to sub-$250 market segments as the GPUs aren't fast enough to handle real-time raytracing, and it makes little economic sense for NVIDIA to add billions of additional transistors for RT cores. The company is hence carving out a sub-class of "Turing" GPUs under the TU11x ASIC series, which will power new GeForce GTX family SKUs, such as the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, and other GTX 1000-series SKUs. These chips offer "Turing Shaders," which are basically CUDA cores that have the IPC and clock-speeds rivaling existing "Turing" GPUs, but no RTX capabilities. To sweeten the deal, NVIDIA will equip these cards with GDDR6 memory. These GPUs could still have tensor cores which are needed to accelerate DLSS, a feature highly relevant to this market segment.

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti will no doubt be slower than the RTX 2060, and be based on a new ASIC codenamed TU116. According to a VideoCardz report, this 12 nm chip packs 1,536 CUDA cores based on the "Turing" architecture, and the same exact memory setup as the RTX 2060, with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface. The lack of RT cores and a lower CUDA core count could make the TU116 a significantly smaller chip than the TU106, and something NVIDIA can afford to sell at sub-$300 price-points such as $250. The GTX 1060 6 GB is holding the fort for NVIDIA in this segment, besides other GTX 10-series SKUs such as the GTX 1070 occasionally dropping below the $300 mark at retailers' mercy. AMD recently improved its sub-$300 portfolio with the introduction of Radeon RX 590, which convincingly outperforms the GTX 1060 6 GB.

Razer , the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, announced today a new range of the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model gaming laptops. This update to the award-winning Razer Blade 15 is centered around increased graphics performance with the inclusion of new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs, delivering a whole new way to experience gaming on-the-go.

All models are powered by the latest 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H 6 core processor, and feature 16GB of dual-channel system memory with up to 512 GB of fast SSD storage, in addition to a new Windows Hello-capable IR camera for easy and secure login via facial recognition. The Base Model of the Razer Blade 15 will remain available to gamers seeking additional storage capacity and connectivity, featuring the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with Max-Q design and a CNC-milled compact aluminum chassis, from $1,599.

Out of the box, the D5X WindForce 2X OC offers clock speeds of 1556 MHz GPU core, and 1771 MHz GPU Boost, against NVIDIA-reference speeds of 1506/1708 MHz. The D5X WindForce 3X OC has the same exact clock speeds out of the box, but is endowed with a better WindForce 3X triple-fan cooler that helps sustain boost frequencies and manually overclocked speeds better. The D5X G1.Gaming tops the range with 1594 MHz core and 1809 MHz GPU Boost. Sadly all three cards run the GDDR5X memory at 8.00 GHz clock speeds. All three cards make do with a single 8-pin PCIe power input. Prices (MSRP) range from $249.99 for the WindForce 2X OC to $269.99 for the WindForce 3X OC, and $299.99 for the G1.Gaming OC.

MSI rolled out one of the many upcoming silently-launched GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB graphics cards to feature the more advanced GDDR5X memory. NVIDIA is designing this SKU to compete with AMD's recently launched Radeon RX 590. Its specifications are very similar to those of the original GTX 1060 6 GB, but GDDR5X lends additional overclocking headroom. NVIDIA is carving this SKU out of the larger GP104 silicon, instead of GP106. You still only get 1,280 CUDA cores, 80 TMUs, 48 ROPs, and a 192-bit wide memory interface.

The MSI Armor OC ships with 1544 MHz GPU clocks, with 1759 MHz GPU Boost frequencies, compared to 1506/1709 MHz reference clock speeds. This factory-overclock is identical to the one the company's original GP106-based Armor OCV1 card ships with. The memory, surprisingly remains at 8.00 GHz, even though we suspect 10 Gbps-rated GDDR5X memory chips are being used in this card. The card draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The company's GTX 1060 6 GB Armor OCV1 graphics card only features a single 8-pin. Apparently you get SLI support. The company didn't reveal pricing.

NVIDIA has just shown us one of the most ingenious ways of creating new custom, competitive SKUs for the midrange market without spending any additional amounts of money on R&D, wiring, or memory controller work: just reuse the chips that already have that work done. This is the case for NVIDIA's new GTX 1060 GDDR5X graphics card, which the company has "designed" to further fill in the gaps on its midrange offerings against a revamped Radeon RX 590.

NVIDIA today released GeForce 416.81 WHQL drivers. These drivers provide optimization for "Battlefield V," which appears to be available to Origin Access users. In addition, the drivers significantly reduce Idle and Multi-monitor power-consumption of GeForce RTX 20-series graphics cards. It also corrects G-Sync issues with "Turing" GPUs. Stuttering noticed on the RTX 2080 Ti when playing back HEVC videos is also fixed. A number of game-specific fixes related to "ARK Survival," "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," "Witcher 3: Wild Hunt," "Monster Hunter World," and "Far Cry 5" were also fixed. Grab the drivers from the link below.

Thanks to some photographs by Andreas Schilling, of HardwareLuxx, it is now confirmed that AMD's Radeon RX 590 will make use of the 12 nm FinFET process. The change from 14 nm to 12 nm FinFET for the RX 590 brings with it the possibility of both higher clock speeds and better power efficiency. That said, considering it is based on the same Polaris architecture used in the Radeon RX 580 and 570, it remains to be seen how it will impact AMDs pricing in regards to the product stack. Will there be a price drop to compensate, or will the RX 590 be more expensive? Since AMD has already made things confusing enough with its cut down 2048SP version of RX 580 in China, anything goes at this point.

AMD is giving final touches to its Radeon RX 590 graphics card, which is rumored to be based on an efficient new rendition of the "Polaris" silicon, which could disturb NVIDIA's product lineup between the GTX 1060 series and the GTX 1070, as its new RTX 2060 series is nowhere in sight. In a bid to thwart this threat, NVIDIA is preparing a variant of the GeForce GTX 1060 with faster GDDR5X memory.

The current GTX 1060 6 GB is endowed with 8 Gbps GDDR5 memory, which at its 192-bit bus width works out to a memory bandwidth of 192 GB/s. NVIDIA had attempted to improve its competitive position once, by creating a shortlived sub-variant of this SKU with 9 Gbps GDDR5 memory (211 GB/s). Switching to 10 Gbps GDDR5X memory would give the chip 240 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 11 Gbps (unlikely because expensive), would yield 264 GB/s. With the GP106 silicon maxed out, it's also possible the new GTX 1060 could be based on a heavily cut down GP104, possibly even with 192-bit memory, which explains GDDR5X memory.

NVIDIA released its first GeForce software suite since Windows 10 October 2018 went official. The new GeForce 416.16 WHQL drivers add full support for the new operating system, including WDDM 2.5, and DirectX Ray-Tracing (DXR), which are essential for NVIDIA RTX to work. The drivers also add SLI profiles for a large number of games, including "Battlefield V," "Basingstroke," "Divinity: Original Sin II," "Immortal: Unchained," "Jurassic World Evolution," "Phoenix Point," and "Seven: The Days Long Gone." 3DVision profiles are added for "The Elder Scrolls: Online."

A small number of bugs are also fixed with this release. "Pascal" GPUs running "Quake HD remix" no longer experience black square glitches. Temporal AA sharp drops in performance with GeForce GTX 1060 running "Rainbow 6: Siege" has been fixed. Driver errors on TITAN Xp when waking up from S4 sleep have been fixed. Lastly, an issue found with "Turing" GPUs not exposing Netflix 4K mode to displays connected over USB-C, has been fixed. Grab the driver from the link below.

BASE Technology Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of innovative and high-performance digital signage systems, reveals its latest SI-614 digital signage player based on 7th Gen Intel Core desktop processors and supporting NVIDIA MXM GeForce GTX 10 Series graphics cards that feature amazing speed, power efficiency and with 3X the performance of previous-generation graphics cards.

The SI-614 digital signage player is designed for digital signage applications within hospitality, retail and education sectors to empower the establishments to connect and communicate with their guests, customers and audience, reliably delivering high-quality live video and digital signage content. The standard SI-614 signage player is powered by a 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7500 processor with a NVIDIA MXM NV1050 graphics card integrated with 4GB GDDR5 128bit memory, 16GB DDR4 memory and a 128GB 2.5-inch SSD storage device.

NVIDIA CFO Colette Kress, speaking in the company's latest post-results financial analyst call, confirmed that NVIDIA isn't retiring its GeForce GTX 10-series products anytime soon, and that the series could coexist with the latest GeForce RTX series, leading up to Holiday-2018, which ends with the year. "We will be selling probably for the holiday season, both our Turing and our Pascal overall architecture," Kress stated. "We want to be successful for the holiday season, both our Turing and our Pascal overall architecture," she added. NVIDIA is expected to launch not just its RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080, but also its RTX 2070 towards the beginning of Q4-2018, and is likely to launch its "sweetspot" segment RTX 2060 by the end of the year.

NVIDIA reportedly has mountains of unsold GeForce GTX 10-series inventory, in the wake of not just a transition to the new generation, but also a slump in GPU-accelerated crypto-currency mining. The company could fine-tune prices of its popular 10-series SKUs such as the GTX 1080 Ti, the GTX 1080, GTX 1070 Ti, and GTX 1060, to sell them at slimmer margins. To consumers this could mean a good opportunity to lap up 4K-capable gaming hardware; but for NVIDIA, it could mean those many fewer takers for its ambitious RTX Technology in its formative year.

A report via PCGamesN points to some... interesting performance positioning when it comes to NVIDIA and AMD offerings. Battlefield V is being developed by DICE in collaboration with NVIDIA, but it seems there's some sand in the gears of performance improvements as of now. I say this because according to the report, AMD's RX 580 8 GB graphics card (the only red GPU to be tested) bests NVIDIA's GTX 1060 6GB... by quite a considerable margin at that.

The performance difference across both 1080p and 1440p scenarios (with Ultra settings) ranges in the 30% mark, and as has been usually the case, AMD's offerings are bettering NVIDIA's when a change of render - to DX12 - is made - AMD's cards teeter between consistency or worsening performance under DX 12, but NVIDIA's GTX 1060 consistently delivers worse performance levels. Perhaps we're witnessing some bits of AMD's old collaboration efforts with DICE? Still, It's too early to cry wolf right now - performance will only likely improve between now and the October 19th release date.

Acer unveiled two new Predator Helios gaming notebooks today at the next@acer global press conference in New York. They include the exceptionally powerful Predator Helios 500, featuring up to 8th Gen Intel Core i9+ processors, and the Predator Helios 300 Special Edition that includes upgraded specs from its predecessor and a distinctive white chassis. Both feature VR-Ready performance, advanced thermal technologies, and blazing-fast connectivity.

Razer , the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced its all-new Razer Blade 15.6-inch gaming laptop featuring Intel's latest processor. The new Razer Blade is the world's smallest gaming laptop in its class, boasting more display area and performance features. The available 144 Hz refresh rate 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) display of the new Razer Blade enhances gaming and entertainment viewing with full-frame fluid motion graphics and 100% sRGB color. Users can also step up to 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution with touch functionality and 100% Adobe RGB color support. Each laptop display is individually custom calibrated in production for amazing color accuracy out-of-the-box. Best-in-class 4.9 mm thin bezels flank the display, while retaining the ideal web camera placement at the top of the screen.

The world's smallest 15.6-inch gaming laptop measures as little as 0.66-inches thin and with a minimal footprint for ultimate mobility. The refined chassis is individually CNC milled from a single aluminum block to provide a sturdy yet compact design, and features a scratch resistant anodized black finish. Managing heat without sacrificing performance in such a small form factor is no easy task, but Razer innovated by utilizing vapor chamber technology for the cooling solution instead of the traditional heat pipes found in most gaming laptops. Beyond cooling the CPU and GPU, the vacuum-sealed vaporized liquid helps dissipate the heat generated from other components within the laptop.

NVIDIA has a long history of playing Dr. Frankenstein on their graphics cards. The latest rumors from China suggest that NVIDIA is wheeling the GeForce GTX 1060 into the operating room for the fifth time. Currently, there are already four variants of the GeForce GTX 1060 in the wild: the original model with 6 GB of memory, the refreshed 6 GB model with slightly faster memory (9 Gbps), the cut-down model with 3 GB of memory, and finally, the Chinese-exclusive model with 5 GB of memory. However, NVIDIA's intentions are more ambitious this time. Apparently, their plan is to implement a variant of the existing high-performance GP104 GPU into the GeForce GTX 1060. As a reminder, the more powerful models like the GeForce GTX 1070, 1070 Ti, and 1080 all utilize the GP104 chip. Curiously, we've seen a variant of the GP104 (GP104-140) chip in a lower-end model before, specifically the GTX 1060 3GB.

On this occasion, NVIDIA is going to tailor the GP104-300, the silicon used in the GTX 1070, to the GTX 1060. This new SKU will carry the GP104-150 label. Despite the radical change, GP104-equipped GTX 1060 graphics cards share the same specifications as the original 6 GB model. Therefore, performance should be right in line as well. Although, we can expect some slight, unnoticeable differences in regards to thermals and power consumption. As usual, the new GTX 1060s will be exclusive to the Chinese market. With the next-generation of NVIDIA graphics cards almost among us, the company has been working diligently to clear their Pascal stock.

NVIDIA released their latest GeForce 397.31 WHQL drivers yesterday. The new 397.31 drivers came game-ready for recently released titles BattleTech and Frostpunk while also provided support for features like NVIDIA RTX and Vulkan 1.1. However, numerous GTX 1060 owners have reported on the official NVIDIA forums that they were unable to complete the installation of the 397.31 drivers. Users were prompted to restart their systems to complete the installation process, but once they have done so, they were presented with the exact screen over and over again putting their systems into an endless restart loop. While NVIDIA is investigating the bug, GTX 1060 owners are encouraged to roll back to a previous version of the drivers as a stop-gap solution. The workaround consists of rebooting the affected system in safe mode and running Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to completely remove the 397.31 drivers. Users can then proceed to install the previous 391.35 drivers normally.

Yesterday we broke the news that NVIDIA was preparing to launch a fourth variant of their GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 5GB Windforce OC is the first custom model to appear in the wild so far. The overall design is similar to its GTX 1060 6GB Windforce OC sibling. The dual-fan Windforce 2X cooling system is present once again, as is the full cover backplate with the Gigabyte engraving. The similarities don't just stop there either, the technical specifications are identical as well. The GTX 1060 5GB Windforce OC runs with a base clock of 1556 MHz and a boost clock of 1771 MHz in "Gaming" Mode. While in "OC" Mode, the graphics card cranks the base clock up to 1582 MHz and the boost clock to 1797 MHz. In terms of memory, the GTX 1060 5GB Windforce OC is shipped with 5GB of GDDR5 memory running at 8008 MHz which comes down to a bandwidth of 160 GB/s across a 160-bit bus. The video outputs consist of two DVI ports, one HDMI port and a DisplayPort.

NVIDIA is expanding their GeForce GTX 1060 offerings with a new 5GB model. The GTX 1060 5GB will utilize the GP106-350-K3-A1 GPU and feature 1280 CUDA Cores. It's equipped with 5GB of GDDR5 memory connected by a 160-bit memory interface. Let's remember that the GTX 1060 already comes in three variants - 6GB (9 Gbps), 6GB, and 3GB. So, the question here is: why did NVIDIA suddenly decided to add a fourth member to the already big GTX 1060 family. Apparently, the main motivation behind the 5GB model's creation is to provide internet cafes with a cost-effective option to deliver a 60 FPS gaming experience at 1080p. According to Expreview, the GTX 1060 5GB is exclusive to the Chinese market, and it won't be available at retail. That means you won't find the GTX 1060 5GB on any shelves. If you really want to get your hands on one, online e-commerce websites like Taobao or Alibaba are your only options.

Benchmarking company Futuremark has recently introduced a new benchmark to its VRMark suite, the Cyan Room, which brings the latest in rendering technologies to the VR world. Futuremark expects this test to leverage the latest hardware and software developments in DX12 to better utilize today's GPUs still somewhat untapped power. In something of a plot twist, AMD's Radeon architectures (in the form of Polaris 20-based RX 580 and Vega-based RX Vega 56 and RX Vega 64) trump NVIDIA's equivalent offerings in pure performance numbers.

Testing was performed by pairing a Ryzen 7 1800X CPU with a selection of graphics cards from both AMD and NVIDIA, supported by 16GB of DDR4-2933 system memory, and Windows 10 x64. In a post on Radeon gaming, Scott Wasson said that "The Cyan Room (...) highlights AMD's continued performance leadership on this (VR) front," adding that "the Radeon GPUs we tested have clear leads over their direct competition. What's more, all the Radeon GPUs are meeting the key requirement for today's VR headsets by delivering at least 90 frames per second in this test."

GALAX and its EU-specific brand KFA2 announced the SNPR external graphics enclosure, with a factory-fitted GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB graphics card. Measuring 165 mm x 156.5 mm x 73 mm (WxDxH), and weighing in at 1.38 kg, the enclosure relies on an external power brick. Internally, it's a stack-up of three key components, the main-board which takes in power and Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) host connectivity, and puts out a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot; the extremely compact graphics card PCB, and the custom-design fan-heatsink cooler, which combines an aluminium fin-stack heatsink, with a pair of 70 mm spinners, to keep cool.

The enclosure is made of SECC steel, that's perforated along three sides. Display outputs from the card include one each of DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, and dual-link DVI-D. The internal GTX 1060 6 GB graphics card ticks at factory-overclocked speeds of 1531 MHz core, 1746 MHz GPU Boost, and 8.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective) memory (against reference clocks of 1506/1709 MHz). An external 230W power-brick (included) supplies power to the unit. Available now, the KFA2/GALAX SNPR GTX 1060 6 GB is priced at 499€ in the EU, including taxes.

An update to the Steam survey results is always worth noting, especially with the added, tremendous growth Valve's online store service has seen recently. And it seems that in the Steam gaming world at least, quad-core CPUs, NVIDIA graphics cards, and Windows 10 reign supreme.

Windows 10 64-bit is the most used operating system, with 50.33% of the survey. That the second most used Windows OS is the steady, hallmark Windows 7 shouldn't come as a surprise, though it does have just 32.05% of the market now. OS X has a measly 2.95% of the grand total, while Linux comes in at an even lower 0.72%. While AMD processor submits may have increased in other software, it seems that at least in Steam, those numbers aren't reflected, since AMD's processor market share in the survey has decreased from 21.89% in February to just 19.01% as of June, even though the company's Ryzen line of CPUs has been selling like hotcakes. Quad-core CPUs are the most used at time of the survey, at 52.06%, while the next highest percentage is still the dual-core CPU, with 42.23%.

GPU-accelerated crypto-currency mining poses a threat to the consumer graphics industry, yet the revenues it brings to GPU manufacturers are hard to turn away. The more graphics cards are bought up by crypto-currency miners, the fewer there are left for gamers and the actual target-audience of graphics cards. This is particularly bad for AMD, as fewer gamers have Radeon graphics cards as opposed to miners; which means game developers no longer see AMD GPU market-share as an amorphous trigger to allocate developer resources in optimizing their games to AMD architectures.

To combat this, both AMD and NVIDIA are innovating graphics cards designed specifically for crypto-currency mining. These cards are built to a cost, lack display outputs, and have electrical and cooling mechanisms designed for 24/7 operation, even if not living up to the durability standards of real enterprise-segment graphics cards, such as Radeon Pro series or Quadro. NVIDIA's "Pascal" GPU architecture is inherently weaker than AMD's "Polaris" and older Graphics CoreNext architectures at Ethereum mining, owing in part to Pascal's lack of industry-standard asynchronous compute. This didn't deter NVIDIA from innovating a lineup of crypto-mining SKUs based on its existing "Pascal" GPUs. These include the NVIDIA P104 series based on the "GP104" silicon (on which the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 are based); and P106 series based on the "GP106" silicon (GTX 1060 series is based on this chip). NVIDIA didn't tap into its larger "GP102" or smaller "GP107" chips, yet.